The Kayak Fishing Nort West (KFNW) league, has officially released the 2024 in-person tournament schedule for the Washington Kayak Bass Fishing (WKBF) club. As competitors prepare for the tournament trail, I thought this would be a good time to take a deeper dive into the schedule and recap past events.
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open event
Alder Lake April 06, 2024
The WKBF season open will be in Western Washington at Alder Lake, located south of Eatonville. The tournament is set for early spring and is a great time to fish this reservoir, the water will have risen from the lower levels in the winter, and the clarity will be clear this time of year. Alder Lake offers a variety of cover and structure, from underwater stumps, logs, and boulders to deep river channels, ledges, and a dam.
Sept 24, 2022
Alder Lake was stop #5 in the 2022 WKBF season and the event took place in September, and the early fall bite was on. 29 competitors signed up for the event, and 87 bass were submitted during the tournament. Most of the bass caught were smallmouth but the Big Bass for the tournament was an 18.25” Largemouth Bass caught by Kevin Frank; Kevin would go on to win the tournament with a total of 81.00”. The 2022 AOY, Jim Davis finished in second place with a total of 78.50”, and Chase Odeen finished third with a total of 60.50”.
Predictions:
If the pre-spawn bite is on it’s going to be a shootout and it will take 85.00” to win it. The Big Bass will be an 18.50” Smallmouth. I wouldn’t be surprised if the mild winter moves the bass into the spawn sooner than usual, and if that happens then this tournament could take 100” to win, and a 20+” largemouth would win big bass. It’s going to be an interesting event. I will lock in a prediction as the season gets closer, Western Washington spring tournaments are hard to predict.
Event #1
Lake Whatcom May 04, 2024
The WKBF will begin in Western Washington for tournament stop #1, Lake Whatcom. The lake is in the Northwest corner of the state near the Canadian border, in a town named Bellingham. Smallmouth and Largemouth bass can be found on this 4,920-acre body of water. The main body of the lake is over 200ft deep in areas, the NW part of the lake offers opportunities for shallow water fishing, and the south end of the lake has steep ledges. Lake Whatcom is also home to a seaplane base that offers sightseeing trips around the area. 2024 will be the third time a WKBF tournament has been held on Lake Whatcom.
Aug 18, 2018
Almost six years ago the first Lake Whatcom tournament took place, and it was a very close four-fish limit event. Andrew Larsen finished in third place with 56.00”, Patrick Kelly took second place with 57.75” and was only 1” short of the victory. Coey Coulson finished the day with 58.75” and the win. The Biggest Bass was an 18.00” largemouth caught by Patrick Kelly.
Jun 3,2023
42 anglers signed up, and 134 fish were submitted, the bass fishing on Lake Whatcom was hot for this tournament. The Largest bass caught was a 20.00” smallmouth bass caught by Jordan Dugger, which is a giant smallmouth. The majority of bass submitted were smallmouth bass, the top 3 anglers were all over the 90” mark for the day. Garret Harrison (IKBF) won the event with 94.50”, followed by Kevin Frank with 94.00”, just a half inch behind the leader, and Dan Walker finished in third place with 92.00”. Looking forward to seeing what the 2024 group of anglers produce on Lake Whatcom, could they break the 100” mark?
Prediction
Lake Whatcom produced good numbers in June, I would assume it was a post-spawn bite. Will the bite be as hot in May of 2024? Will the bass be spawning? If the bass are on beds, I do believe the tournament will reach 100” totals, and a few 20.00” bass will be caught, but the biggest bass will be a 21.50 Largemouth. I also predict an angler from WKBF will win this event and won’t let an outsider from the IKBF or OKBF come onto their home turf and win.
Event #2
Lake Wallula Jun 15, 2024
This is going to be a special event for the KFNW, all three clubs, IKBF, OKBF, and the WKBF will be competing on Lake Wallula, and it will be the same day, time, and place as the No Limit Big Bass Power Hour presented by Native Watercraft. It’s going to be wild. Competitors will be able to register for both events and compete in both events at the same time. This is the day you don’t want to miss, lots of opportunities to win prizes, money, and trophies. For more information about the No Limit Big Bass Power Hour click here.
Lake Wallula is in the Tri City area in Southeast Washington, it is part of the Columbia River. This body of water is home to giant Smallmouth and Largemouth and can be found on a variety of cover and structure that the lake has to offer.
May 14, 2022
The first time that all three clubs competed on Lake Wallula was in 2022 and it was a fish-catching frenzy. 92 Competitors registered for the event and 376 fish were submitted, what an exhausting day to be a tournament judge. The Biggest Bass was a 20.25” largemouth caught by Brandon Hua (OKBF), that size of fish would put you near the top for a Big Bass Power Hour win. Dan Zimmerscied (IKBF) finished in First place with 93.00”, followed by Brandon Hua (OKBF) in second with 91.75”, and in third with 89.50” Jordan Dugger (WKBF). 2024 is going to be another great turnout with more competition.
Predictions
This will be the largest amount of kayak bass fishing competitors on one body of water that the Pacific Northwest has ever seen, it’s going to be huge. Over 500 bass will be submitted, the largest will be a 22.00” largemouth and the winner will catch 95.00” total. As the event gets closer there will be more information to cover, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify.
Event #3
Osoyoos lake July 20, 2024
This 5000-acre lake is in Nort East Washington and stretches across the Canadian border. Ledges, vegetation, docks, and other areas of cover and structure can be found on Lake Osoyoos, the lake doesn’t offer much for shade, and the hot summer months will be a challenge for anglers to catch a limit as the day goes on. The WKBF has competed on Lake Osoyoos in 2022.
Jun 18, 2022
This was another Smallmouth blowout of a tournament, 3 out of the 124 fish on the TourneyX leaderboard were Largemouth, and it was a Largemouth caught by Bill Smith that would win the biggest bass with a 21.50” LMB. It was a great day of fishing 19 Smallmouth bass over 19” were submitted that day. The Top 5 finishers had over 90.00” total for the day.
Jim Cary finished 3rd with 90.50”, Citha Mao finished 2nd with 92.25”, and Dan Walker would win the event by an inch, 93.25”.
Predictions:
The tournament will be one month later into the year than in 2022, and I think the results will be similar. It will be over 90” to win the event, and a giant largemouth will win the biggest bass. It’s going to be another good event.
event #4
Lake Stevens Aug 10, 2024
The 4th stop will be at Lake Stevens, located east of Everett. This lake is a popular pleasure boater destination and a high-traffic float plane area, creating obstacles and possible hazards for competitors. Smallmouth and largemouth are targeted on this body of water. Lake Stevens has plenty of cover and structure to choose from and creates an even playing field for competition. WKBF had an event on Lake Stevens in 2022.
July 16, 2022
28 competitors registered for the event, 69 fish were submitted, and the largest bass was a 20.50” giant largemouth caught by Jim Davis. This was a tournament that was controlled by Smallmouth, 66 of the 69 fish submitted were Smallmouth. Andrew Larsen won the event with 86.25”, Jim Davis finished second with 73.50”, and Peter Callejo finished third with 68.75”.
Predictions
Fishing in August in the Westside of Washington can be productive, I think it will take 90” to win it and can be won by fishing docks or deeper water. The biggest fish will be 19.00” and will be caught before 9 am.
Event #5
September 14, 2024, Banks Lake
The 5th and final stop of the WKBF season will take place on Banks Lake. This is a 27-mile-long lake between Coulee City and Electric City on the East side of Washington. Banks Lake is a massive body of water, with giant rock formations, submerged grass, roadbeds, and any other structure or cover you could want, except docks, not too many of those. This is a fun lake to fish and is one of the most anticipated events of the year. This will be the third time that the WKBF has held an event on this lake.
May 18, 2019
This was a three-limit event during the pre/post spawn. The biggest bass was a 20.50” Largemouth caught by the 2019 AOY Andrew Larsen, he would also win the event with 52.75”, Citha Mao would finish second with 52.50”, and third place was Jordan Dugger with 50.00”. It was a close-contested event.
Aug 27, 2022
25 anglers registered for the event and 135 fish were submitted. It was a close event, a .25” was all that separated first and second place. Patrick Kelley won the event with 81.00” Michael Mumford caught the biggest bass of the day with a 17.75” smallmouth and finished the event in second place with 80.75”, and in third place was Hong Long with 74.00”.
Predictions
September should be a good time of year for the bass to become active and start chasing bait, but at the same time it’s the end of tournament season and the fish will have been hammered on by then. I think 80” will win it, and the biggest bass will be 17.00” smallmouth. This prediction will change by the time September comes around, most of my predictions will change as we get closer to the event.
Conclusion
2024 is going to be a great season for the KFNW and the WKBF, the schedule is solid, the competition is stiff, and the fishing is unpredictable. It’s going to be a fun season and I can’t wait to cover the events, and interview the competitors, be smart, stay safe, and enjoy the sport.
KFNW Membership Info: https://kayakfishingnorthwest.com/
WKBF Information: https://kayakfishingnorthwest.com/
KFNW tourneyX page: https://www.tourneyx.com/app/tournaments/s/kfnw
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